Since work began in late 2013, we’ve been documenting the progress of the Solar panel installation on the roof of our OWC facility in Austin, Texas. And we’re happy to report that the project has been completed and the panels are being prepped for activation.

The efficient panels will harness light energy from the sun and are expected to provide no less than 32 percent of the building’s annual power consumption with excess power put out onto the grid. As you can see below, the state-of-the-art mounts for the panels use a unique teepee shape that maximizes energy harvest by eliminating shading between module rows.

The addition of the solar panels to our Austin facility is just another step in OWC’s continued environmental efforts. We’ve also installed a special dual-reflective window film that blocks up to 66 percent of the sun’s heat to keep the building more comfortable and more efficient. And we will be adding high-efficiency air-conditioning units to the building.

But our efforts for minimizing our footprint aren’t just contained to Austin. From our LEED Platinum Certified headquarters in Woodstock, Ill. to our on-site Vestas V39-500 kW wind turbine, we have made a company-wide commitment to energy conservation and environmental leadership. And we will continue to maintain that commitment for years to come!

How large a system did you install? We fired up a 250KW solar system at one of our facilities about a year ago. On most sunny days it generates enough to power the entire building – in fact we are very frequently pushing power back out onto the grid. The best part is we have plenty of capacity to charge vehicles too, so my ride home is fueled completely by sunlight.

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